Hermit in Germany

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I had a late start to my morning. I got to sleep in a couple extra hours and have my breakfast at 9, then come back to the room and do....homework?! Yes. I am still in school, believe it or not. So there I, was responding to people on a virtual discussion board. Less than a week of this nonsense before I'm gradumacated. Around lunch time I finally emerged from the hotel room and went down to the Dom again.

I had ordered a decaf americano from Starbucks along with some food and I was waiting at the coffee end of the counter when the lady said, "Decaf americano for Jaime!" and within an instant some dude just grabbed it and ran. I was like, dude, unhand that americano! But it was too late. Then while I was trying to get the attention of the Starbucks employee, the lady announced, "Americano for Dennis!" and it was placed on the counter, lonely, unwanted. I figured that was the dude that took my coffee, so I took his coffee. But I ordered a decaf, dang it, I don…

Today I looked at a map and navigated myself to a pet store to look for something special for Cheesey. The largest store with the best reviews on google was 4 miles away from my hotel. While looking carefully at the streets on the map, I found that there's another photography museum/gallery very close to the pet store. So now I had to go. I decided to give it a try.

I walked further than no tourist dared to go. Slowly, one tourist at a time, they all fell to the wayside as real Germany emerged. Not one street-side restaurant, no signs in english pointing to main attractions, no Starbucks or McDonalds, only worker looking people driving vans, unloading trucks, and carrying briefcases, only german speaking people around me. I eventually asked someone if I was on Shönhauserstraße, of course in minimal words and maximum gestures. He said, "Ja." and indeed I was on the right street and I found the place I was looking for. Even though it was cloudy and drizzling, I was hot an…

I don't know why that even a 45 minute flight basically takes the whole day. With the exception of a walk around Berlin in the morning with Ganesh, basically the entirety of yesterday was packing our stuff, going to the airport, going through security, waiting for the check-in to start, finding the gate, sitting there waiting for boarding, sitting inside the plane, taxi-ing around, the actual flight, taxi around again, get our luggage, find a taxi, go to the hotel, the end. I just don't understand how it takes all day.

But that was yesterday. Today I am here in Düsseldorf, Germany, which is much quieter and more remote than Berlin was. It is next to the Old River Rhine. I just found out that the Tour de France is starting here, of all places. In Düsseldorf. Three days after we leave. I know. It's so close that it almost hurts. Not only the first stage of the Tour de France, but the first two stages of the Tour de France are going to be in Düsseldorf. That just isn't fa…

My whole life I thought the London bridge was the famous bridge we always see on post cards, posters, travel brochures, etc. But it isn't. That's the Tower Bridge. Did everyone else know this except me? My entire reality is broken. What do we know about anything? What is real? What is truth?

These were the psychological torments presented to us when we visited London to meet Ganesh's sister, Bimala. It was so wonderful to finally meet her. I now have the whole Tamrakar Collection.

The London Bridge is so non-descript it wasn't even photographable. Bimala was a great tour guide and took us to three places in the span of a few hours. We took the famous "tube" from the airport to the city, which was about a 40 minute ride. I was so sleepy that I lost my ticket that Bimala got for me. I felt so bad. I must have dropped it somewhere.

First was the Tate Modern, that makes museum number 14 for my trip. I'm training for the museum olympics. I wake up Rocky-style …

The last Museum on my list to see was the Sammlung Boros Collection, which is housed in a former Bomb Shelter built during WWII on Hitler's orders. There were no takers for the project, so forced labor had to build the bunker. After the war, the place changed hands a bunch of times and now is owned by some rich dude whose passion is to buy art for his collection. The bunker is his private residence on the top floor, and the rest of the floors to show off the art which he changes every four years. He only buys from living artists, and refuses to have an agent or a curator. The artists are not necessarily famous but just whose work speaks to him personally. Because his bunker attracts so many visitors per year, he has unintentionally become a driving force in the art market. One review online said that this place was "so hip it hurts." So I really wanted to see it.

I looked it up online to find out where it was since it wasn't on my Berlin map, and I was disheartened t…

The hotel has a buffet style breakfast each morning for an additional fee to the room. Ganesh's company paid for him to have it, but it would be too expensive for both of us to go. He wants me to have a nutritious and filling breakfast so he lets me have the buffet and he goes to Starbucks. Everyday, including yesterday, I get to completely stuff myself so that I feel like I don't have to eat for many more hours. There is even a fry-cook guy that you can ask to make you stuff and point to the ingredients you want. Twice I have asked for a mushroom and ham omelette, to go along with my bacon, sausage, fruit bowl, smoothie, toast, and yogurt. The yogurt is definitely meant to please all the Scandinavians and other general europeans because it has many optional toppings such as granola, mixed dried fruit, toasted coconut, and other stuff. I have discovered that such "Muesli" is amazing, and everyday I have a bowl of half-plain half-strawberry yogurt, generously topped …

I was extra brave today and navigated myself via complex subway system to four museums. Okay, that's not entirely true. Ganesh helped me buy the ticket. He also went on the train with me a few stops to show me how it works. Showing me how to validate my ticket and open the subway doors, for example. And maybe he also looked at the train maps and figured out which trains I needed, where I needed to change trains, and how many stops to travel on each one. His detailed instruction made it super easy and I didn't get lost at all. But I was super independent. Really.

There is a labyrinth underground filled with trains and shopping malls and food. Who knew. I got a one-day pass for the U-Bahn system and so I was motivated to see all the museums today.

The first one I went to was the Jewish Museum, which I wasn't originally planning to go to, but when I saw the outside of the building from the bus tour a few days ago, I thought it looked really cool so I had to go. I might be so …